Ink recognition for use in character-based applications

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems and user interfaces for providing feedback to a user based on recognition of character-based ink input are provided. A first feedback is provided to the user to indicate a character as which ink input by the user is recognized. The first feedback is displayed in proximity to the displayed input ink so that the user knows to which ink character the first feedback corresponds. A second feedback may optionally also be provided indicating a correctness of the recognized ink input, as compared to a predefined correct value such as a correct word game solution or answer, by displaying the input ink in one format to indicate that the recognized value is correct, and by displaying the input ink in a second format to indicate that the recognized value is incorrect.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates generally to tablet and handheld computers. Morespecifically, the invention relates to methods and systems forinteracting with a Tablet PC during a character-based application, andfor providing feedback based on the user input to indicate recognitionand/or correctness of the input.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Typical computer systems, especially computer systems using graphicaluser interfaces (GUI) for user interaction, such as Microsoft WINDOWS®brand operating system, are optimized for accepting user input from oneor more discrete input devices for entering text (such as a keyboard),and a pointing device (such as a mouse) with one or more buttons foractivating user selections. Some computing systems have expanded theinput systems available to a user by providing a pen-like stylus. Usinga pressure sensitive overlay or an electronic digitizer, a computerdisplay may be enhanced to accept interaction from a user by using thestylus. For example, one may write handwritten information (referred toas ink, and further discussed below) on the display, or interact withthe display by selecting icons or objects with the stylus.

Handwritten information received into a computer may be used in avariety of ways. For example, the handwritten information may remain asonly handwritten information. Also, the handwritten information may beprocessed by a handwriting recognition engine and the informationreplaced by text from the handwriting recognition engine. Finally, thehandwritten information may remain displayed to a user and the resultsof the handwriting recognition engine associated with the handwritteninformation (being displayed in conjunction with the handwritinginformation or hidden from the user, but still being associated with thehandwriting information). These capabilities are available inMicrosoft's WINDOWS brand XP Tablet PC Edition operating system.

The additional capability of user input via pen has introduced newinteraction problems for a user when attempting to input certain data.For example, a user may attempt to write “house” on a digitizer usingthe stylus, but the computer might recognize the input as “mouse.” TheWINDOWS brand XP Tablet PC Edition provides a mechanism, referred to asthe Text Input Panel, or TIP, through which a user can confirm that thecomputer recognizes the input as the user is writing the input on thedigitizer. However, use of the TIP requires a user to open a separatewindow and might not always be convenient or desired depending on theapplication into which the user input will ultimately be placed, e.g.,when the user is playing a word game. That is, if a user must use theTIP to confirm input while playing a game, the user's concentration ortrain of thought may often be disturbed, causing the user to have a lessenjoyable game experience than if the user could confirm input directlythrough the game's user interface.

Thus, it would be an advancement in the art to provide a technique forinputting ink for use in word games where the user could confirm thathandwritten ink input was correctly recognized by the computer. It wouldbe a further advancement in the art to provide feedback to the userindicating whether the recognized value of the ink input is correct.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To overcome limitations in the prior art described above, and toovercome other limitations that will be apparent upon reading andunderstanding the present specification, the present invention includesa user interface, systems, and methods for providing user feedback oncharacter-based ink input, such as in a word game application or otherapplication that accepts character-based input where each character canbe independently determined to be a correct or incorrect value,independent of other characters input during the game or otherapplication.

One aspect of the invention provides feedback to a user that includes anindication of a character recognized from the ink input. The characterindication feedback is preferably displayed so that the user knows towhich ink the feedback corresponds, e.g., in proximity with thedisplayed ink.

Another aspect of the invention provides feedback to the user based onthe correctness of the recognized character. The correctness of therecognized character may be determined by comparing the recognizedcharacter with a predefined correct value, such as a game solution oranswer. If the recognized character is correct, the ink may be displayedin a first format. If the recognized character is incorrect, the ink maybe displayed in a second format.

In some embodiments, the input ink and feedback(s) may be replicatedinto related entry fields to assist the user in completing thecharacter-based application or game objective.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete understanding of the present invention and theadvantages thereof may be acquired by referring to the followingdescription in consideration of the accompanying drawings, in which likereference numbers indicate like features, and wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a general operating environment according to anillustrative embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a crossword puzzle user interface according to anillustrative embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates an enlarged view of the answer portion of thecrossword puzzle user interface illustrated in FIG. 2, with a partialanswer filled in.

FIG. 4 illustrates an enlarged view of the answer portion of thecrossword puzzle user interface illustrated in FIG. 2, with a differentpartial answer filled in from that illustrated in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 illustrates a hangman user interface according to an illustrativeembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates the hangman user interface with user input accordingto an illustrative embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 illustrates the hangman user interface with parsed and recognizeduser input according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8 illustrates a cryptogram user interface according to anillustrative embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 9 illustrates the cryptogram user interface with user inputaccording to an illustrative embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 10 illustrates the cryptogram user interface with parsed andrecognized user input according to an illustrative embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 11 illustrates a method for displaying feedback for use withcharacter-based ink input according to an illustrative embodiment of theinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Aspects of the present invention relate to providing a user interfaceand methods for inputting ink for use in games, especially for use withword games (although not required), where the user is provided dynamicreal time feedback indicative of the recognized ink input, and may alsobe provided feedback indicative of the correctness of the recognized inkinput with respect to a predefined game objective. Using the dynamicfeedback, a user instantly knows whether the computer correctlyrecognized his or her input as that which the user meant to berecognized, and may also know whether the input was correct with respectto a game objective.

The following description is arranged into a number of subsections toassist the reader in understanding the various aspects of the invention.The subsections include: terms, general operating environment, andillustrative embodiments.

Terms

The following terms are used throughout the specification, and aredefined below for easy reference by the reader:

Ink—A sequence or set of strokes with properties. A sequence of strokesmay include strokes in an ordered form. The sequence may be ordered bythe time captured or by where the strokes appear on a page. Other ordersare possible. A set of strokes may include sequences of strokes orunordered strokes or any combination thereof. Ink may be expanded toinclude additional properties, methods, and trigger events and the like.When combined with at least some of these events, it may be referred toas an ink object.

Ink object—A data structure storing an ink with or without properties,methods, and/or events.

Stroke—A sequence or set of captured points. For example, when rendered,the sequence of points may be connected with lines. Alternatively, thestroke may be represented as a point and a vector in the direction ofthe next point. In short, a stroke is intended to encompass anyrepresentation of points or segments relating to ink, irrespective ofthe underlying representation of points and/or what connects the points.

Point—Information defining a location in space. For example, points maybe defined relative to a capturing space (for example, points on adigitizer), a virtual ink space (the coordinates in a space into whichcaptured ink is placed), and/or display space (the points or pixels of adisplay device).

Tablet PC—A computer modified to accept handwritten input via a stylusor other pen-like input device. A Tablet PC also includes any computermodified to emulate ink input, e.g., by having been modified to allow auser to input ink using the mouse or other input device instead of usinga stylus in combination with a digitizer or touch-sensitive screen.

General Operating Environment

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of an example of a conventionalgeneral-purpose digital computing environment that can be used toimplement various aspects of the present invention. In FIG. 1, acomputer 100 includes a processing unit 110, a system memory 120, and asystem bus 130 that couples various system components including thesystem memory to the processing unit 110. The system bus 130 may be anyof several types of bus structures including a memory bus or memorycontroller, a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety ofbus architectures. The system memory 120 includes read only memory (ROM)140 and random access memory (RAM) 150.

A basic input/output system 160 (BIOS), containing the basic routinesthat help to transfer information between elements within the computer100, such as during start-up, is stored in the ROM 140. The computer 100also includes a hard disk drive 170 for reading from and writing to ahard disk (not shown), a magnetic disk drive 180 for reading from orwriting to a removable magnetic disk 190, and an optical disk drive 191for reading from or writing to a removable optical disk 192 such as a CDROM or other optical media. The hard disk drive 170, magnetic disk drive180, and optical disk drive 191 are connected to the system bus 130 by ahard disk drive interface 192, a magnetic disk drive interface 193, andan optical disk drive interface 194, respectively. The drives and theirassociated computer readable media provide nonvolatile storage ofcomputer readable instructions, data structures, program modules andother data for the personal computer 100. It will be appreciated bythose skilled in the art that other types of computer readable mediathat can store data that is accessible by a computer, such as magneticcassettes, flash memory cards, digital video disks, Bernoullicartridges, random access memories (RAMs), read only memories (ROMs),and the like, may also be used in the example operating environment.

A number of program modules can be stored on the hard disk drive 170,magnetic disk 190, optical disk 192, ROM 140 or RAM 150, including anoperating system 195, one or more application programs 196, otherprogram modules 197, and program data 198. A user can enter commands andinformation into the computer 100 through input devices such as akeyboard 101 and pointing device 102. Other input devices (not shown)may include a microphone, joystick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner orthe like. These and other input devices are often connected to theprocessing unit 110 through a serial port interface 106 that is coupledto the system bus, but may be connected by other interfaces, such as aparallel port, game port or a universal serial bus (USB). Further still,these devices may be coupled directly to the system bus 130 via anappropriate interface (not shown). A monitor 107 or other type ofdisplay device is also connected to the system bus 130 via an interface,such as a video adapter 108. In addition to the monitor, personalcomputers typically include other peripheral output devices (not shown),such as speakers and printers. In a preferred embodiment, a pendigitizer 165 and accompanying pen or stylus 166 are provided in orderto digitally capture freehand input, such as ink. Although a directconnection between the pen digitizer 165 and the serial port is shown,in practice, the pen digitizer 165 may be coupled to the processing unit110 directly, via a parallel port or other interface and the system bus130 as known in the art. Furthermore, although the digitizer 165 isshown apart from the monitor 107, in many embodiments of the invention,the usable input area of the digitizer 165 is co-extensive with thedisplay area of the monitor 107. Further still, the digitizer 165 may beintegrated in the monitor 107, or may exist as a separate deviceoverlaying or otherwise appended to the monitor 107.

Application programs 196 and program modules 197 may include a parsingmodule and a recognition module for use in receiving and analyzing inkinput via the stylus 166. The parsing module may be used to analyzereceived strokes and group the strokes into ink objects (e.g.,characters, words, drawings, etc.). The recognition module may be usedto analyze ink objects and perform character recognition on alphanumericink objects. The recognition information may then be stored as aproperty of the ink object. Parsing and recognition modules areavailable from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash. in the Tablet PCPlatform Software Development Kit (SDK).

The computer 100 can operate in a networked environment using logicalconnections to one or more remote computers, such as a remote computer109. The remote computer 109 can be a server, a router, a network PC, apeer device or other common network node, and typically includes many orall of the elements described above relative to the computer 100,although only a memory storage device 111 has been illustrated inFIG. 1. The logical connections depicted in FIG. 1 include a local areanetwork (LAN) 112 and a wide area network (WAN) 113. Such networkingenvironments are commonplace in offices, enterprise-wide computernetworks, intranets and the Internet and use both wired and wirelesscommunication protocols.

When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 100 is connectedto the local network 112 through a network interface or adapter 114.When used in a WAN networking environment, the personal computer 100typically includes a modem 115 or other means for establishing acommunications over the wide area network 113, such as the Internet. Themodem 115, which may be internal or external, is connected to the systembus 130 via the serial port interface 106. In a networked environment,program modules depicted relative to the personal computer 100, orportions thereof, may be stored in the remote memory storage device.

It will be appreciated that the network connections shown areillustrative and other techniques for establishing a communications linkbetween the computers can be used. The existence of any of variouswell-known protocols such as TCP/IP, Ethernet, FTP, HTTP and the like ispresumed, and the system can be operated in a client-serverconfiguration to permit a user to retrieve web pages from a web-basedserver. Any of various conventional web browsers can be used to displayand manipulate data on web pages.

One or more aspects of the invention may be embodied incomputer-executable instructions, such as in one or more programmodules, executed by one or more computers or other devices. Generally,program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, datastructures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particularabstract data types when executed by a processor in a computer or otherdevice. The computer executable instructions may be stored on a computerreadable medium such as a hard disk, optical disk, removable storagemedia, solid state memory, RAM, etc. As will be appreciated by one ofskill in the art, the functionality of the program modules may becombined or distributed as desired in various embodiments. In addition,the functionality may be embodied in whole or in part in firmware orhardware equivalents such as integrated circuits, field programmablegate arrays (FPGA), and the like.

Illustrative Embodiments

Many word games are dependent on a user, or player, determiningcharacters or words that successfully complete the game's objective.Examples of such games include crossword puzzles, cryptograms, andhangman. For example, in a crossword puzzle, a user must successfullydetermine multiple words crossed horizontally and vertically, based on aclue for each word in the puzzle, such that the words intersectcorrectly. In a game of hangman, a user must determine a single word orphrase by guessing individual letters in the word or phrase. When aguessed letter appears in the word or phrase, the guessed letter isfilled in at each appropriate location where the guessed letter appearsin the word or phrase. When the guessed letter does not appear at all inthe word or phrase, the player receives a strike. The game ends eitherwhen the player successfully guesses the word or phrase, or the playeraccumulates some predetermined number of strikes. In a cryptogram, eachletter of the alphabet is substituted by another random letter of thealphabet (but no letter is ever used to replace more than one otherletter). A word or phrase is then written using the replaced letters inplace of the original letters of the word or phrase. The player mustdetermine what the original word or phrase is, based on patterns ofcharacters in words, repetition of characters, length of individualwords in the phrase, and the like.

Crossword puzzles, cryptograms, and hangman, generally, are well knownin the art. It will be appreciated by those of skill in the art,however, that the present invention is applicable to any game or otherapplication where input is character-based (e.g., alphanumeric) and canbe compared to some predetermined correct value (e.g., a game objective,answer, or solution). Character-based input refers to any applicationthat receives, as input, individual characters whose correctness can beevaluated individually against a predefined correct value, independentof other input characters and without waiting for an entire word to beentered.

With reference to FIGS. 2–4, a user may receive dynamic feedback basedon recognized input and/or correctness of recognized input while solvinga crossword puzzle on a Tablet PC. FIG. 2 illustrates a crossword puzzleuser interface 201 for use with a Tablet PC, according to anillustrative embodiment of the invention. The crossword puzzle interfaceand operation may be controlled by a crossword puzzle application storedon the Tablet PC, e.g., as an application program 196. A crosswordpuzzle interface 201 may include a clue portion 203 and an answerportion 205. The clue portion 203 provides to the player a clue 207 foreach word that is to be filled in by the player in the answer portion205. When the user selects a square (other than a black square) in theanswer portion 205, e.g., square 211 corresponding to clue 23-across andclue 3-down, the corresponding clues 207 and 209 for the horizontal andvertical words, respectively, corresponding to square 211 may beautomatically displayed in the clue portion 203. Alternatively, a playermay browse clues using scroll bars 213, 215, 217, and 219. Check button221 may be used to check the player's answers when dynamic feedback asdescribed below is turned off. Reveal button 223 may be used to revealan answer or answers to the player when the player is stuck and cannotfigure it out on his or her own. Reveal button 223 may alternativelyincorporate a drop down list that allows the player to select whetherthe current character, word, or entire puzzle should be revealed.

FIG. 3 illustrates an enlarged portion of the answer portion 205illustrated in FIG. 2, including square 211 and its surrounding region.In FIG. 3 the player has entered an answer to clue 23-across by enteringa handwritten character in each box for 23-across. As the crosswordpuzzle application receives and parses the input, the parsed ink 301,303, 305 and 307 may be displayed in each respective box to indicate tothe player that an answer has been entered. Upon performing recognitionfor each ink object, the crossword puzzle application may display afirst feedback in the form of a recognition character 311, 313, 315, and317 for each ink object 301, 303, 305, and 307, respectively, indicatingthe character that the crossword puzzle application recognized from theink object. By indicating to the user the recognized input, the userknows when his or her input was recognized incorrectly. In FIG. 3, itappears as if the crossword puzzle application recognized the input inkcorrectly, with the exception of ink object 307, which the playerintended to be an ‘R’, but which was recognized as a ‘D’. Thus, uponreceiving the first feedback, the user can go back and correct his orher input ink object 307 so that it is recognized as an ‘R’, if desired.

Optionally, the crossword puzzle application may display a second formof feedback indicating a correctness of the player's answer. Thecorrectness feedback may include displaying the ink objects 301, 303,305, and 307 and/or recognition characters 311, 313, 315, and 317 in afirst format (e.g., a first color, bold, etc.) when the recognizedcharacter is correct (i.e., it matches the predetermined answer,solution, or game objective), and in a second format (e.g., a secondcolor, non-bold, etc.) when the recognized character is incorrect. Forexample, in FIG. 3, ink objects 301 and 305 may be displayed red toindicate that recognized characters T and A, respectively, are incorrectwith respect to the correct solution, and ink objects 303 and 307 may bedisplayed green to indicate that recognized characters 313 and 317, Eand D, respectively, are correct. When this form of feedback is turnedon, it is possible for the user to repeatedly guess an answer until thecorrect answer is indicated. For example, while the player intended forink object 307 to be an ‘R’, the player fortunately finds out that themisrecognized character ‘D’ is actually part of the correct solution.The user can thus use this information to help deduce the correctanswer.

Upon seeing the indication of the incorrect answers, the player maychoose to erase the incorrect ink input using known Tablet PC erasermethods (e.g., as distributed with the Tablet PC Platform SDK orincluded within Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition), or by selectingthe eraser button 225 (FIG. 2) and then selecting the letters to eraseusing the stylus. The player may then enter another answer, e.g., thecorrect answer, as illustrated in FIG. 4. In FIG. 4 the entire answer(“REND”) may be displayed green to indicate that the answer is correct.

With reference to FIGS. 5–7, aspects of the present invention are againillustrated with respect to a hangman game application. In FIG. 5, ahangman user interface 501 may include a clue portion 503 and an answerportion 505. Because the game of hangman consists of merely guessingletters to an answer word or phrase, clue portion 503 may simply includea list 509 of not-yet-guessed letters. Optionally (not shown), clueportion 503 may include a hint to help the user guess the correct wordor phrase. Answer portion 505 may include a blank location for eachcharacter of the answer word or phrase, so that the player knows howlong the word or phrase is, and an input box 507 for the user to guess aletter by entering handwritten input using the stylus.

In FIG. 6, a player guesses a letter by writing the guessed letter 601in the input box 507, e.g., the letter ‘E’. The hangman applicationparses the input ink and performs recognition on the parsed ink. Oncerecognized, the hangman application removes the recognized letter fromthe list 509 of unguessed letters. The user knows whether the input inkwas recognized correctly based on the letter removed from the list ofletters. The hangman application then performs one of two actions. Thefirst action is performed when the recognized letter is not in the wordor phrase. The hangman application increments the strike count againstthe player, for example by drawing a portion of a person above the entryblanks (not shown).

With reference to FIG. 7, the second action is performed when therecognized letter is in the answer word or phrase. The hangmanapplication displays the entered ink object 701 in each entry blanklocation in which the recognized letter appears in the answer word orphrase. In addition, the hangman application displays the first form offeedback by displaying an indication 703 of the recognized letter nextto each displayed ink object 701. Optionally, the hangman applicationmay display a second form of feedback by displaying the ink object 701and/or indication 703 in a format to indicate its correctness, asdescribed above. However, because the ink object is only displayed inthe answer word or phrase if the recognized letter is a correct guess,the second form of feedback is unnecessary in the hangman application.

With reference to FIGS. 8–10, aspects of the present invention may alsobe used with a cryptogram game application. A cryptogram user interface801 includes a clue portion 803 and answer portion 805. In a cryptogram,the clue portion includes a word or phrase where each unique letter ofthe alphabet is substituted by another unique letter of the alphabet.The answer portion includes an entry blank 807 for each letter in theword or phrase. The clue portion 803 may optionally include a hint (notshown) to aid the player in solving the cryptogram. In the presentexample, an applicable hint might read “Quotation by the principalauthor of The Federalist.”

As illustrated in FIG. 9, a player inputs a letter by writing a letter901 in an entry blank 807. For example, the player may input the letter‘E’ in entry blank 903. The cryptogram application parses the input andperforms recognition on the ink. Upon performing recognition on the ink,with reference to FIG. 10, the cryptogram application displays firstfeedback 1001 to indicate the letter as which the ink 901 is recognized.In addition, the cryptogram application may replicate the ink 901 andfeedback 1001 into other entry blanks corresponding to the same letteras that for which ink 901 was entered. The cryptogram application mayoptionally also display second feedback to indicate the correctness ofrecognized letter 1001 by displaying ink 901 and/or feedback 1001 in afirst format (e.g., a first color, italicized, etc.) when the recognizedletter is correct with respect to the cryptogram solution, anddisplaying ink 901 and/or feedback 1001 in a second format (e.g., asecond color, non-italicized, etc.) when the recognized letter isincorrect with respect to the cryptogram solution. In the presentexample the letter ‘E’ correctly corresponds to the clue letter ‘R’, sothe ink objects 901 would be displayed in the first format (e.g.,green). However, if the letter ‘E’ did not correspond to clue letter‘R’, ink objects 901 would be displayed in the second format (e.g.,red). Just as the cryptogram application may replicate input into likeentry blanks, the cryptogram application may also delete like input whenthe player erases an entry.

FIG. 11 illustrates a general method for displaying feedback based onink recognition. In step 1101, a Tablet PC receives character-basedhandwritten input for an application or game. Character-based inputrefers to any input in which the correctness of the input can bemeasured on a character-by-character basis, instead of requiring anentire word to be entered before comparing the input to a predefinedcorrect entry. In step 1103 the Tablet PC parses the input into an inkobject, and in step 1105 performs recognition on the parsed ink object.After performing recognition on the ink object, the Tablet PC displaysfirst feedback indicative of the letter recognized from the ink object.The first feedback is preferably located in proximity to the input inkobject so that a user knows which ink object to which the feedbackcorresponds. If the input ink object is not recognized in step 1105, thefirst feedback might include an error message, or displaying anindication that the ink object was not recognized, e.g., by displaying aquestion mark (?) or some other special character as the first feedback.

In step 1109 the Tablet PC, or an application running on the Tablet PC(e.g., a game) determines whether the recognized input ink object iscorrect with respect to a predefined correct value (e.g., a gameobjective, such as a correct solution or answer). If the recognizedinput ink object is correct, the Tablet PC or application displays instep 1111 the ink object and/or the first feedback in a first format,e.g., a first color, italicized, bold, etc. If the recognized input inkobject is incorrect, the Tablet PC or application displays in step 1113the ink object and/or the first feedback in a second format, e.g., asecond color, non-italicized, non-bold, etc. Those of skill in the artwill appreciate that some method steps may be performed in other thanthe recited order, and that some method steps may be optional orcombined with other method steps.

While the invention has been described with respect to specific examplesincluding presently preferred modes of carrying out the invention, thoseskilled in the art will appreciate that there are numerous variationsand permutations of the above described systems and techniques. Thus,the spirit and scope of the invention should be construed broadly as setforth in the appended claims.

1. A computer-implemented method for providing feedback indicative ofink recognition in an application that accepts character-based inkinput, comprising: (a) performing recognition on ink to determine acharacter to which the ink corresponds on a character by characterbasis; (b) displaying the ink in an entry location; (c) automaticallydisplaying first feedback in proximity to the displayed ink, wherein thefirst feedback provides an indication of the character to which the inkcorresponds based on the recognition performed in (a), independent ofother character ink input; (d) comparing the recognized ink in (a) to apredefined correct value corresponding to the entry location; and (e)automatically displaying second feedback indicative of the correctnessof the recognized ink relative to the predefined correct value.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein second feedback comprises displaying the inkin a first format when the recognized ink is correct, and displaying theink in a second format when the recognized ink is incorrect.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, wherein second feedback comprises displaying thefirst feedback in a first format when the recognized ink is correct, anddisplaying the first feedback in a second format when the recognized inkis incorrect.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the applicationcomprises a crossword puzzle application for solving a crossword puzzle,and the predefined correct value includes a partial solution to thecrossword puzzle.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the applicationcomprises a hangman application for solving a hangman puzzle, and thepredefined correct value includes a partial solution to the hangmanpuzzle.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the application comprises acryptogram application for solving a cryptogram, and the predefinedcorrect value includes a partial solution to the cryptogram.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the ink input is received via a stylus by auser.
 8. A computer-implemented method for providing feedback indicativeof ink recognition in an application that accepts character-based inkinput, comprising: (a) performing recognition on ink to determine acharacter to which the ink corresponds; (b) displaying the ink in anentry location; and (c) displaying first feedback in proximity to thedisplayed ink wherein the first feedback provides an indication of thecharacter to which the ink corresponds based on the recognitionperformed in (a); wherein (b) includes displaying the ink in a pluralityof related entry locations.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein (c)includes displaying the first feedback in each of the plurality ofrelated entry locations.
 10. The method of claim 9, further comprisingdisplaying second feedback indicative of the correctness of therecognized ink relative to a predefined correct value.
 11. The method ofclaim 10, wherein second feedback displays the ink in a first formatwhen the recognized ink is correct, and displays the ink in a secondformat when the recognized ink is incorrect.
 12. A computer readablemedium storing computer executable instruction for performing a methodfor providing feedback indicative of ink recognition in an applicationthat accepts character-based ink input, comprising: (a) performingrecognition on ink to determine a character to which the ink correspondson a character by character basis; (b) displaying the ink in an entrylocation; (c) automatically displaying first feedback in proximity tothe displayed ink, wherein the first feedback provides an indication ofthe character to which the ink corresponds based on the recognitionperformed in (a), independent of other character ink input; (d)comparing the recognized ink in (a) to a predefined correct valuecorresponding to the entry location; and (e) automatically displayingsecond feedback indicative of the correctness of the recognized inkrelative to the predefined correct value.
 13. The computer readablemedium of claim 12, wherein second feedback comprises displaying the inkin a first format when the recognized ink is correct, and displaying theink in a second format when the recognized ink is incorrect.
 14. Thecomputer readable medium of claim 12, wherein second feedback comprisesdisplaying the first feedback in a fast format when the recognized inkis correct, and displaying the first feedback in a second format whenthe recognized ink is incorrect.
 15. The computer readable medium ofclaim 12, wherein the application comprises a crossword puzzleapplication for solving a crossword puzzle, and the predefined correctvalue includes a partial solution to the crossword puzzle.
 16. Thecomputer readable medium of claim 12, wherein the application comprisesa hangman application for solving a hangman puzzle, and the predefinedcorrect value includes a partial solution to the hangman puzzle.
 17. Thecomputer readable medium of claim 12, wherein the application comprisesa cryptogram application for solving a cryptogram, and the predefinedcorrect value includes a partial solution to the cryptogram.
 18. Thecomputer readable medium of claim 12, wherein the ink input is receivedvia a stylus by a user.
 19. A computer readable medium storing computerexecutable instruction for performing a method for providing feedbackindicative of ink recognition in an application that acceptscharacter-based ink input, comprising: (a) performing recognition on inkto determine a character to which the ink corresponds; (b) displayingthe ink in an entry location; and (c) displaying first feedback inproximity to the displayed ink wherein the first feedback provides anindication of the character to which the ink corresponds based on therecognition performed in (a); wherein (b) includes displaying the ink ina plurality of related entry locations.
 20. The computer readable mediumof claim 19, wherein (c) includes displaying the first feedback in eachof the plurality of related entry locations.
 21. The computer readablemedium of claim 20, wherein the computer executable instructions furthercomprise displaying second feedback indicative of the correctness of therecognized ink relative to a predefined correct value.
 22. The computerreadable medium of claim 21, wherein second feedback displays the ink ina first format when the recognized ink is correct, and displays the inkin a second format when the recognized ink is incorrect.
 23. A userinterface displayed on a display device for a user to interact with aword game application that accepts character-based input, comprising: aclue portion comprising a clue to the solution of a word game; an answerportion comprising an entry blank displaying ink input by a user; firstfeedback automatically displayed in proximity to the ink input by theuser, including an indication of a character recognized on a characterby character basis from the ink input, independent of other characterink input; and second feedback automatically displayed indicating acorrectness of the ink input based on a comparison of the recognizedcharacter to a predefined correct value.
 24. The user interface of claim23, wherein second feedback displays the ink in a first format when therecognized character is correct, and displays the ink in a second formatwhen the recognized character is incorrect.
 25. The user interface ofclaim 23, wherein the word game includes a crossword puzzle, and thepredefined correct value includes a partial solution to the crosswordpuzzle.
 26. The user interface of claim 23, wherein the word gameincludes a cryptogram, and the predefined correct value includes apartial solution to the cryptogram.
 27. A computer-implemented methodfor providing feedback indicative of ink recognition in an applicationthat accepts character-based ink input, comprising: (a) on a characterby character basis, performing recognition on ink to determine acharacter to which the ink corresponds; (b) displaying the ink in anentry location; (c) displaying the ink in a plurality of related entrylocations, at least one of which is different from the entry location in(b); (d) automatically displaying first feedback in proximity to thedisplayed ink, wherein the first feedback provides an indication of thecharacter to which the ink corresponds based on the recognitionperformed in (a), independent of other character ink input; (e)comparing the recognized ink in (a) to a predefined correct valuecorresponding to the entry locations; and (f) automatically displayingsecond feedback indicative of the correctness of the recognized inkrelative to the predefined correct value.
 28. A computer readable mediumstoring computer executable instruction for performing a method forproviding feedback indicative of ink recognition in an application thataccepts character-based ink input, comprising: (a) performingrecognition on input ink on a character by character basis to determinea character to which the ink corresponds; (b) displaying the ink in anentry location; (c) displaying the ink in a plurality of related entrylocations, at least one of which is different from the entry location in(b); (d) automatically displaying first feedback in proximity to thedisplayed ink, wherein the first feedback provides an indication of thecharacter to which the ink corresponds based on the recognitionperformed in (a), independent of other character ink input; (e)comparing the recognized ink in (a) to a predefined correct valuecorresponding to the entry locations; and (f) automatically displayingsecond feedback indicative of the correctness of the recognized inkrelative to the predefined correct value.